Your Tiny Herb Garden - Self Watering Herb Planter

Imagine a world where you do not need to buy herbs🌿; you can just pick them off your countertop✨. Your tiny herb garden makes this into a reality!

With minimal effort, just refill the water reservoir once a week🫗, adjust the light if needed↕️, and you'll get a fresh supply of herbs that'll easily cover a family🌟!

It is not only handy; by skipping the store, you also:

1. Decrease the use of single-use plastics in packaging🥤
2. Decrease the carbon emissions used in the transport of bought herbs 🛻
3. Bring permanent freshness into your space 🌿✨

Now you're maybe thinking this has to be expensive 💸, but it is not! Your tiny herb garden is built with 3D printing, an IKEA flowerpot, a cost-effective grow light, and standard wooden dowels, bringing the total cost of the build to ~55 USD or about 48 EUR🌟.

A one-time payment that will quickly be made up in savings from all the herbs you'll grow yourself🚀!

Tools

1. Modern 3D printer
2. Glue
3. Sandpaper
4. Phillips screwdriver

Parts

1. IKEA Bittergurka flowerpot ~ 12 USD
2. 20 W grow light with timer ~ 35 USD
3. KA2.6x14 screw (M2.5x14 bolt should work, but can be a little fiddly) ~ 1 USD
4. 2x 21x500mm wooden dowel (check your local hardware store) ~ 2 USD
5. Half a wine cork ~ <1 USD
6. ~420g White PETG ~ 5 USD
7. ~4g Black PETG ~ <1 USD
8. ~12g Red PETG ~ <1 USD

Planting

Your tiny herb garden uses a simple passive hydroponic system. Instead of relying on soil for nutrients, the plants grow in coconut coir while their roots have access to nutrient-rich water stored in the reservoir below.

Soil

In our case, we still use something soil-ish, coconut coir. Coconut coir supports the roots and helps maintain a healthy balance of moisture and oxygen. As the roots grow, they extend into the nutrient solution below.

Any coconut coir should do the trick. I use this one.

Nutrients

Because our coconut coir has limited to no nutrients, and what little there are, our plants quickly use up, we need to refill with our own.

For that, any hydroponic liquid nutrient solution should work. I use this one.

Seeds

This is where you get to choose. Most herbs, salads, and such should work. I recommend basil, leaf parsley, and chives.

Standard seed packages that you get from your local garden store is all you need.

Download the print files from my Makerworld listing, and 3D-print all of the parts🖨️.

Some of the plates have small parts and features, so it is recommended to apply glue or wash your plate before printing👍.

Use some sandpaper to round off the edges of your dowels.

You can also optionally treat them with oils and such.

Snap the locking lever into the grow light holder. This can be a little tricky. Try to spread the walls a little while applying pressure, and you should be fine 😊.

Attach the power cable to the grow light. This can be done afterwards, but it is easiest in this order.

Then unscrew the screws from both sides and screw the grow light holders on top of the backplates using the KA2.6x14 screws. The new screws are needed as the original ones are too short.

Install the grow light onto the rods by pushing the locking lever towards the rod. The easiest method is to install one side at a time.

You may need to push the cable a little when inserting the rod. Do a quick check afterwards that the cable is not damaged, and then everything should be fine ✅.

Note:

Some suppliers have quite loose tolerances on their dowels, which can cause light to sag. If you experience this, let me know in the comments, and I'll adjust the size of the locking lever to custom fit your specific diameter.

Attach the dowels to the feet by pushing them in. Slits in the feet should hold the wood securely

One of the feet has a cable slit; make sure to route the cable through before inserting the dowel.

Glue your cork onto the water indicator. This is used to make the indicator float with the water level⛵.

Any hot glue/superglue should work👍!

Snap the water indicator holder into the deck. Snap the water indicator into its holder; it should be able to freely move like in the GIF. If not, check that it is correctly attached and/or for print defects. Feel free to ask for help in the comments!

The floating indicator moves with the water level. If it is on red, it's time to refill, but feel free to do so anytime you fancy😊.

Push the plastic dowels into place, and push the two deck pieces together.

Then, friction-fit the whole deck into the IKEA Bittergurka like in the GIF.

You are getting really close to those fresh herbs, keep it up✨🌿😊!

Insert all the pots and the lid in the corner. They should all slide into place👍.

Place the wooden feet of the IKEA Bittergurka inside the plastic feet, and place the planter on top.

You are done with assembly, congrats🎉! Now it is time for planting🌱!

Fill your pots almost full with coconut coir. You can tap and compact the coir lightly, but not too much to preserve oxygen access for the roots.

Now it is time to plant your seeds. For most herbs (basil, etc.), about 20-35 seeds per pot should be fine, but check recommendations for your specific herb or ask in the comments. For salads, 1-3 seeds per pot is recommended 👌.

Most herbs also like to be planted 4-7 mm under the soil, so sprinkle some coconut coir on top too.

The first image shows a typical seeding density for herbs, while the second one shows one for salad/tomatoes and other larger plants.

Now it is time to water, but because we grow hydroponically, we cannot just give our plants pure water.

To survive, our plant roots need three things:

1. Water💧
2. Nutrients🍫
3. Oxygen🌬️

Normally, plants obtain their nutrients from the soil. In this system, however, the coconut coir is used primarily to support the roots while providing a healthy balance of moisture and oxygen. The nutrients are supplied through the water reservoir below, so we need to mix a nutrient solution into the water. Simply follow the dosage instructions on your nutrient product and mix it with tap water before filling the reservoir.

Then fill the garden till you are at the top mark of the indicator, then the reservoir is full ✅.

Plants need approximately 15 hours of light per day; luckily, our light has a built-in timer function✨!

When the timer function is enabled, the light will stay on for 15 hours and then turn off for 9 hours, repeating this cycle automatically.

To enable the timer, turn on the light (button 1 in the image), then press the top timer button (button 2 in the image). Now just keep the light plugged in, and it should automatically turn on and off.

Note: We recommend activating the timer in the morning so the plant follows a natural day–night rhythm.

1. Refill water💧

Check the water indicator; the more plants, the more often you need to refill, but once a week should cover it.

Going away for a while? When the indicator shows empty, it is not actually "fully empty"; there are still some reserves at the bottom, so in the case that you need to, a fully established garden can typically go up to two weeks on its own.

2. Adjust the height of the grow light ↕️

The grow light should be positioned about 10 cm above the plants. Adjust the light by disengaging the locking levers as shown in the picture.

Also, make sure no plants are shading others 🔦.

Harvest the herbs! 🎉

Regular harvesting promotes better growth! There are plenty of good guides online on how to harvest your herbs properly.

Most herbs will germinate within 1–3 weeks and can typically be harvested after 4–8 weeks, depending on the species and growing conditions. Check your specific herb online🌍!

Salads and herbs can become bitter if they start flowering or just grow old. If you notice this happening, or simply want to try something new, you can reset your tiny herb garden.

Resetting

1. Empty the water tank.
2. Harvest any remaining herbs and discard the coconut coir. Fresh growing medium helps prevent salt buildup and gives new plants the best possible start.🌱
3. Clean the pot and all components with soap and water.
4. Replant with fresh coir and new seeds🌿✨.

If you build your own Tiny Herb Garden, I'd love to see it. Feel free to share photos and ask questions in the comments.